Hi all,
LT - All sounds very normal at this stage in your recovery and "gushing blood" is good as it's just the blood circulating properly and promoting the healing process. As Diamond says the itching/ sensations/ odd stabbing pains are still all part of the healing process but do watch out for any bad smelling pus discharge as this could be a sign of infection. I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine though as long as you keep everything meticulously clean down there. Hope each day continues to get better for you.....
I also take both Zinc and Vitamin C daily and was really interested to read Jr2's advice on taking a mixed carotene supplement too, something I will give a try too. Thank you!
The first day or three is always suggested "bed rest" to keep complete pressure off the wound, but if you're anything like me, I got bored easily and wandered around doing as much stuff as much as I could! It does get better and you won't be able to sit comfortably for probably a week or two, but you will notice you can spend longer times in certain positions after a while and fast forward, a few more weeks and you'll be able to sit pretty comfortably again!...I used a donut cushion under a pillow for a while when I first started back at work as I have a predominantly sitting role!
You'll get there! The worst for me during the recovery process was getting in and out of the car, but that's not a problem any longer.
Keep updating, feel free to come back with any more questions and heal, heal, heal!
Hugs to all

6-th day after the surgery: the pain has subsided a lot and am no longer taking hydrocodon. Today did not even take a regular tylenol. Still taking a stool softener with stimulant and the BM's are soft and manageable. Sitz bath is very relaxing indeed.
Slight amount of pain/sting is still there though very much tolerable. More on the site where they removed the skin tag. The discharge (mostly red, sometimes browny) is still there and not sure if it is has decreased ...seems to be similar last few days). Similar amount of itching as well that comes and goes. Still not very comfortable sitting but standing is fine (typing this while standing).
I guess as everyone is saying it is a long recovery process.
When did people start doing some physical activity -- for eg a 20-30min walk? I love going on a short 20-30min walk after lunch and would like to be able to resume it as soon as possible (it helps keep my acid reflux in control also). But not sure if right now is the time or I should wait another week or two.
Happy thanksgiving to everyone in North America region.

hey lord t
sounds like your doing great,keep up the good work and stay soft ,drink loads of water
can i ask what position was your fistula ,
i am having my fistula op in dec ,hope mine pretty superficial too

Hey Richibeno: it was somewhere around 12 noon location looking down (not sure if I am conveying it correctly). Best of luck with your procedure. We will all be thinking for your well being and quick recovery.
I probably spoke too soon that it is all good news.
Yesterday was not so good news: had lots of bleeding (bright red blood) and today back to some pain and stinging. It is mostly in the site where they removed the skin tag.
Hey Diamond and ETO: is this any cause for concern? till yeterday the pain had almost subsided but today back to pain in the skin tag site and more than normal bleeding last evening and night. Not sure if somehow I scraped the healing wound during BM and/or taking shower. This all is so draining and exasperating.....

hey lord t my fistula is in the 6 oclock position
so if you are on your back knees bent and feet on the floor ,as you look at the anus mine is a 6 oclock ,i think this is the way a sergeon looks at it ,
seeing my sergeon tommorow ,heres hoping it goes ok

hey lord t how r you doing ,hope alls good
heres to great healing

Hey LordTrinity! I'm not receiving notifications for some reason - so only just saw that you had posted a message. I'm now 6 weeks post-surgery and one of the wounds is almost closed over but it still bleeds - especially when I have a bm. So I would say it's normal to see blood. In the first couple of weeks, I did have a couple of episodes of "gushing red blood" - was told this is normal.
Just watch for anything yellow and smelly. I had one day last week where I saw discharge that was similar to what I had prior to surgery. I also felt feverish - due to that my surgeon's nurse recommended packing again.. as it helps to draw out the bad stuff. Turns out that the wound probably stopped draining properly and there was a build up of pus. I'm so paranoid that the area will get infected, but it's been about 10 days since and I'm okay overall. Just waiting on the openings to heal and stop draining!
Regarding activity - I didn't do much for the first few weeks. I was back to walking to and from work (30 min each way) about 4 weeks after the surgery. I could have probably walked sooner, but chose to take it easy. Last week (5 weeks post-op) I started going to yoga and tai chi. And today I went to a cardio gym class (6 weeks post-op). The area is really sore now though and had a little bleeding after class. But overall, things are back to normal. I would say you're okay to walk as soon as you feel able - listen to your body!
How are you feeling now? Did you have any more major bleeding episodes?

I just has the fistula surgery - I had a superficial fistula developed from the abcess to the inside of the rectum. The fistula kept feeding the abcess - so the abcess would never heal. The surgery is really no bigggie. They put you out and in 20 minutes you are up and leave the doctor's office shortly after that. I took 1 oxycodine after surgery and that's it. No pain at all, no problems with BM. That was on Friday - today is Monday - no problems at all. No bandages, just a wad of cotton to catch the drainage - the abcess is draining, but it doesn't hurt as before the op.
Look on Saturday, I had the sledge hammer out driving in several fence posts, yesterday I hit a bucket of balls at the golf range, today I cleaned all the windows on my high ranch. (all true) I will hold off on weight lifting for 1 week. Back to work tomorrow.
But my point is, if surgery is needed top get rid of the fistula (that would never heal), then do it. I did not opt for the glue, plug, vlave option. Doc said cutting the fistula was 95% success rate - so I went with the odds (despite the small risk of complicatons). The abcess was the cause of SO much pain, and now it's gone - I have my life back.